After the Civil War ended and slavery was officially abolished, the Southern states faced a dramatic shift in social order. Rather than embracing equality, state legislatures quickly enacted a series of restrictive measures known as Black Codes and similar laws. These statutes were designed to regulate the lives of newly freed African Americans, limit their rights, and maintain white dominance. By shaping where freed people could live, work, and move, these laws profoundly influenced the early years of freedom—setting the stage for decades of racial inequality and resistance.
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